By Carlos Boogs
Top Rank's CEO Bob Arum is not only predicting a knockout ending for Saturday's pay-per-view headliner - he guarantees Manny Pacquiao (58-6-2, 38KOs) vs. Jessie Vargas (27-1, 10KOs) will end in a knockout.
Pacquiao returns from a short-lived retirement to challenge Vargas for the WBO welterweight world title on November 5th at the Thomas & Mack Center in Las Vegas.
The fight will headline Top Rank's very own pay-per-view event. Pacquiao retired from the sport in April after defeating Timothy Bradley in their third encounter. The following month he won a senatorial seat back home in the Philippines.
The last time Arum guaranteed a knockout ending in Pacquiao fight was back in 2012, when the Filipino boxer was facing Juan Manuel Marquez for a fourth time. The knockout prediction was on point, but it was Pacquiao who was knocked out cold in the sixth round.
If Pacquiao was able to get a knockout ending, it would be his first since 2009 - when he stopped Miguel Cotto in the twelfth and final round of their welterweight title fight.
Because Pacquiao has been juggling his training camp with his senatorial duties, Arum believes the eight division champion will come out hunting for a knockout win.
"Vargas is a kid who is coming on. He's becoming a knockout artist. He used to be a defensive fighter. Now he's really punching hard and he knows that he's not going to fool around with Manny defensively. He's going to go and try to get a knockout," Arum told Fox Sports 1.
"And Manny, who is smart, realizes that his training hasn't really been ideal, so he's going to go out and try to knock Jessie out. I don't know who is going to win the fight - and that's the truth - but I know for sure it's going to end with a knockout - I guarantee it's going to be a knockout."
